Tribeca 2008

Robin’s Tribeca Blog: Finally Some Movies!

Posted by Robin Ruinsky (robin@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 27, 2008

Having learned East from West on my last trip in my travels went much smoother. I arrived on time to the AMC VII theater on third avenue near 12th street. Seeing a seven theater multiplex given over to screenings gives you a good idea how many films there are in the festival.

One film in particular out of all the films being shown caught my eye and I was determined to see it. It’s a Swedish coming of age vampire film. I really wanted to see what sounded like a very unusual film. My game plan has been to try to find films in different genres. The second film on my list was a documentary about film making in war torn Iraq. The festival screenings are well organized. It’s not hard to leave one film and go directly into another.

The AMC VII is aptly named since there are seven theaters one on each floor. I started at what I like to call base camp where I was checked in and told where my chosen film was playing. My film was in theater seven. It was way above base camp by escalator. It’s an interesting setup. As I rose higher and higher I noticed the floors went in the following order:

Theater
Bathrooms
Theater
Bathrooms
Theater

You get the idea.

When I reached the top I knew I had triumphed. I looked out at the street thinking of where I was! I had ascended to Theater VII. I know how those climbers feel who reach the summit of Everest. At each theater there are many very helpful volunteers to check the members of the Press in again.

I was asked for my name and they checked my pass. Then they asked the name of my news outlet. I told them Film School Rejects. I was then asked if we’re online. I said yes, though I wanted to say we’re a subsidiary of The New Republic or The Wall Street Journal just for fun. Now here is the Pass hierarchy. There are passes of many different letters.

The Franklin Pass A through J and the Hudson Press and Hudson Charity. They basically cover different areas and mine which is a Franklin D. This gives me quite a lot of access and I’m proud to be a Franklin D. But it seems that some who have an A pass see the festival a bit differently.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking the people of the press who have enough clout to get the first letter in the alphabet, but sometimes things can get just a bit amusing. At the screening for Let the Right One In, the Swedish coming of age vampire story, there were two aisle seats taped off with a reserve sign. Hey, I understand that desire for the perfect seat in the theater but this was a press screening of a subtitled Swedish coming of age vampire film. Which was excellent, by the way, but still off the beaten path of film subjects.

It was three in the afternoon. The theater though not huge wasn’t tiny. It had plenty of room. But I suppose some people like to plan ahead. A volunteer showed the A’s to their taped off seats and they were properly thanked for the reserved seating. I still think my seat three rows back on the right was a superior seat and I got it without any tape.

While waiting for the start of the film I listen to people talking and you can hear voices and dialects from all over the world. It’s then I realize the European film goers are doing things like pulling out fine healthy snacks like apples from their messenger bags and back packs. The Americans, such as myself have decided to help the failing economy by buying healthy over priced snacks of M&M’s and buttered popcorn. The movie starts and there are some little commercials, one for Cadillac because they give a nice award to the film chosen best film by the audiences.

Then the credits start to roll. Alright, they’re in Swedish. I can’t read Swedish, but the mood is being set, the film is starting. It’s that moment when everything begins. A woman, a member of the Press who I certainly hope was not a Franklin D, walks down the aisle and stands watching the credits.

And watches… And watches.

Just as I’m about to say hey, you, sit down, she looks around, clearly overcome with emotion that the place has seats and takes one. I do hope she was a Hudson or a Franklin A, B, C, E, F, G, H, I or J. I hate to think a Franklin D would have been so thoughtless as to stand blocking film goers from the opening credits. At the end of the film I went descended to the first floor to see War, Love, God & Madness and it was then the full impact of being a proud wearer of a Franklin D press credential hit me. As I walked in I was asked for my ticket. I held up my credentials and was told to go right in.

Yes, I had arrived!

My euphoria quite literally dampened a bit upon leaving the theater when I discovered my bottle of water had opened in my messenger bag. The moral of the story is never carry a sports type bottle with a flip cap in your bag.